^[1]This article originally appeared on Dr. Mahaney’s Pet-Lebrity News ^[2] column on Pet360.com as Hollywood Celebrities Rally to Help Find Missing Dog. ^[3]

Having a pet to go missing is a terrifying experience no owner should have to go through.

When a pet escapes from and owners yard or is stolen, so much uncertainty arises about the potential for a pet to come home. “How did this happen”, “is it my fault”, and “will I ever see my pet again” are some of the questions that run through the minds of owners having lost a beloved animal companion.

Recently, Hollywood celebrities have been lending a hand in the search for a lost dog named Charlie. Reportedly, Julia Cohen, owner of Switch Boutique, a popular fixture in the Beverly Hills retail scene, had her Maltese Charlie stolen from outside her place of business. The store’s security camera evidently filmed Charlie walking unsupervised away from the store, rounding a corner, and disappearing from view.  Moments later, a pregnant woman and her school-age girl entered the area where Charlie rounded the corner, picked him up, and walked away in the opposite direction from Switch Boutique. ABC 7 Eyewitness News Los Angeles aired the footage of Charlie’s dognapping, which can be seen here ^[4].

Hillary Duff, Lance Bass, George Lopez, Leah Michelle, and others have been putting the word out to help find Charlie. Duff was reported to have spent many hours on the eve of Charlie’s loss driving around in efforts to find him. Michelle evidently partook in the search on-foot to find Charlie.

Duff and Lopez appear in the ABC 7 video and plea for his return along with a heartbroken Cohen. Duff shared the news with her greater than four million followers on her @HillaryDuff ^[5] Twitter account and looped@GeorgeLopez ^[6] into the conversation, who shared with his over two million followers.

On January 28, 2015 Lance Bass took to his @LanceBass ^[7] Twitter account to share this announcement with his 393,000 followers:

Puppy Alert! Charlie was taken by a pregnant women and her kid on s beverly dr today in Beverly Hills -

Bass included a photo posted on SwitchBoutique ^[8] Instagram of a Charlie looking exceptionally cute with doe-like, innocent-looking eyes and the pink tip of his tongue poking out of the front of his mouth. If Charlie’s story and photo don’t rally the animal-loving troops of Hollywood and we non-celebrities, then I’m not sure what will.

On February 1, 2015 Charlie was found. The specific circumstances around his return are not known, butPatch.com ^[9] reports “the police investigation led to Lynwood (CA), where someone was found to be in possession of the animal, according to Beverly Hills police Sgt. Max Subin, who did not elaborate.”

A photo of Charlie getting a welcome-home kiss and following thank you message to those who helped was posted on SwitchBoutique Instagram:

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED US FIND CHARLIE!!!! WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU ALL!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ @hilaryduff @msleamichele @lancebass @laurenconrad @kingfrankiedelgado @aliparkerkay @marlylynn @lgmargolis @lowenban @erin_mcp @hilarylindahl @misskategordon @stephaniehartherman @donatiennela @iamtherat @positivemagicmike

Although I am ecstatic to hear about Charlie’s return, his disappearance brings up the obvious fact that he frequently spends time walking on the sidewalk in front of Switch Boutique on an unsupervised basis. Had he been kept behind some form of barrier inside the store, it’s less likely that he would walk away, be stolen, or incur some form of unforeseen trauma (hit by car, attacked by another dog, injured by a person, etc.).

Fortunately, Cohen recognizes this common-sense, pet-safety precaution and responds to ABC newscaster Jory Rand’s query about if Charlie will be kept inside the store when he comes home by stating “yes, he’s not going anywhere.”

Has your pet ever gone missing in a manner of a suspected or known pet-napping?  Feel free to share your story in the comments section.